Tom Sullivan

Tom Sullivan (1915-15 September 1944) was a Sergeant in the US Marine Corps during World War II. A veteran of numerous amphibious invasions and raids, Sullivan was killed in action at the Battle of Peleliu in 1944.

Biography
Tom Sullivan was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1915 to a family of Irish descent, and he enlisted in the US Marine Corps during World War II. Sullivan rose to the rank of sergeant and commanded a squad of Marine Raiders that was sent to rescue a group of missing Marines from Makin atoll on 17 August 1942. In the ensuing Makin Raid, Sullivan's squad managed to fight its way through numerous Japanese defensive positions and traps, and they blew up the Japanese supply depot. Sullivan, Jack Roebuck, and Charlie Miller became known as the "old breed" by new recruits in their squad as the years passed, even though none of them were even out of their twenties yet. On 15 September 1944, Sullivan's squad stormed White Beach on Peleliu during the Battle of Peleliu and destroyed a Japanese bunker and some Japanese tanks that were holding back the American advance. Just as the Americans let their guard down to celebrate, a Japanese officer charged into the bunker with a katana and impaled Sullivan, who was mortally wounded. Sullivan's body was sent back to his family, and Roebuck became the new sergeant.